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UNIVERSITY OF IOWA BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

December 20, 2016

Lisa Bluder

Iowa City, Iowa

Iowa - 83, Kent State - 48

LISA BLUDER: Well, a pretty tough start to the game, as you could see. Getting down 9-0, and then 11-2, but then really, really proud of the way they fought back after that. To go on a 38-4 run over 11 minutes going into half. We had great momentum going into halftime, so sometimes you get a start like that and everything can go downhill from there, but at least we turned it around, and I'm proud of them for that. I thought Makenzie really went in and led our team extremely well, did a great job with that and has a career high in points, Christina has a career high in rebounds, and Kathleen has a career high in assists, so nice to see some of those numbers going down. But happy, again, with the way we fought back after that start.

Q. Have you ever been part of a scoring run like that, 38-4?
LISA BLUDER: You know, I don't know. I've got a really bad memory anymore. But I don't remember. But that's pretty significant. 38-4 is pretty significant. I doubt it.

Q. You got on them in that timeout after they hit the three; what was that timeout like from your perspective, getting on them like that?
LISA BLUDER: You know, I just think they needed to be woken up a little bit. You've got to judge your team. Sometimes some teams can take it, some teams can't. I thought at that point we deserved it, and I think they took it and they took it the right way, and that's really good to see because, again, some teams you get on them like that and they can really tank on you, but I thought they did a good job. We had a start like this at James Madison in Mexico, and they did a good job with that one, as well.

Q. What needed to change?
LISA BLUDER: Well, our defensive intensity, getting out to a 9-0 deficit to begin the game, valuing the ball, too many turnovers in the first half. I didn't mind our shots, actually. I thought our shots were decent. And sometimes you're not going to score, but you've got to defend if you're not going to score, and you've got to value the ball better.

Q. After 13 non-conference games, how do you think that this stretch set you up for Big Ten play coming up?
LISA BLUDER: Yeah, that's a great question. You know, I still feel like we're a work in progress, and I know that might be a bad thing 13 games in. But I think when you have a young team with eight freshmen and sophomores on it, that's going to happen. Carly is just now coming into the mix. She's just been working out with us the last two weeks.

I feel like we're still a work in progress. As you can see, sometimes we look really good and sometimes we don't. So that's going to happen when you have a young team, and you've just got to be able to live through some of those mistakes with them. But how we line up with the Big Ten, I really haven't looked ahead at the Big Ten Conference. I'll start working on Illinois tonight.

But it's right around the corner now, so we've got to be ready.

Q. Were you worried about any lingering effects from Sunday, maybe that was part of your concern?
LISA BLUDER: Yeah, absolutely. I thought we had a slow start at Drake and then obviously a really tough loss, you know, over there. Emotionally draining, coming back, having one day prep for Kent State, so you're kind of worried about that lingering around, yes.

Q. What went into starting Christina over Bre?
LISA BLUDER: More of an offensive decision than anything else.

Q. Had you seen at all that Makenzie seems much more comfortable?
LISA BLUDER: Oh, I agree. I think she's a lot more comfortable than she was at the beginning of the year, but that's pretty typical of a freshman, too. They just need some of those minutes to make them feel comfortable. I think Makenzie had a great game against Drake, as well, so two really nice back-to-back games for Makenzie.

Q. With Makenzie hitting four threes, how do you feel your three-point shooting has come along? It seems like it's starting to get there if Makenzie gains confidence.
LISA BLUDER: It sure helps. The more people that are feeling comfortable, the better. You know, we didn't shoot a great percentage tonight, about 30 percent. I think we can do better than that. But you know, I need to get Tania back on track with that, as well.

Q. You guys have got some time now before starting Big Ten play; what's the agenda during that time?
LISA BLUDER: We'll have practice tomorrow and then we'll send them home for the four-day break, we'll come back on the 26th and resume practice. We only get two days of practice, 26th, 27th, and then we'll bus over to Champaign on the 27th.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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